There There by Tommy Orange
There There focuses on 12 Native Americans who have various personal reasons to attend the Big Oakland Powwow, where Indigenous culture and traditions, including drumming and dancing, are celebrated. Jacquie Red Feather is newly sober and trying to make it back to the family she left behind in shame. Dene Oxendene is pulling his life back together after his uncle’s death and has come to work at the powwow to honour his uncle’s memory. Through Jacqui and Dene and the other 10 characters, Orange grapples with a complex and painful history.
- Last updated: September 8, 2023
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Available at West Vancouver Memorial Library in Book, Large Print Book, eBook, Kindle, and eAudiobook formats.
"In this vivid and moving book, Orange articulates the challenges and complexities not only of Native Americans, but also of America itself."
Readers Guide with questions and topics for discussion.
Powell's Books. "I’ve spent much of my adult life searching for a Native voice that echoes my own experience as an urban Indian."
"Review: Tommy Orange’s stunning debut novel There There"
"A challenging debut novel centred on a powwow in urban California explores the breadth of modern Native American life"
"Yes, Tommy Orange’s New Novel Really Is That Good"
"What does it mean to be Native American? A new novel offers a bracing answer."
Penguin Random House. "Tommy Orange is a graduate of the MFA program at the Institute of American Indian Arts."
The New Yorker. "[...]having little representation in literature, as well as no (literary) version of our (urban Native) experience, was what made me want to write into that space[...]"
The Guardian. "The Native American novelist on the many voices of his bestselling debut, his own personal canon and the fear of tokenism in publishing"